By DILLON RING | Junior Reporter
I truly believe that the video game Minecraft (a game, often social, which at its very simplest is about building with blocks in a 3D world and has elements of resource-gathering) is great fun for gamers everywhere, but also has some elements that can benefit a child’s education.
I very much understand why many parents, if not all, are annoyed by their son or daughter playing video games 24/7. You are probably thinking, “Ugh. Why can’t he play basketball or baseball or soccer instead?” You may say Minecraft is time-wasting, bad for the eyes, bad for the neck and addictive.
However, there are many benefits to playing Minecraft.
First, you learn science. In the game, when you go mining with your pick you will see more than just stone. Your player will encounter ores and have to figure out how to use them wisely. Your player can smelt them to make ingots, or just keep them as is. You can use your materials to their best abilities by making weapons and armor to protect you from the roar of monsters at night.
Either way, rocks and minerals from Minecraft will sprout fun facts and common core exercises to make you more knowledgeable in the classroom.
Secondly, you develop math skills while playing Minecraft. You must anticipate the velocity and angles of your jump during Parkour, which is basically testing the limits of jumping and skills of your character.
Minecraft can also be social. Dedicated Minecraft players enjoy PvP which is player versus player. While PvPing, you must be very focused and it takes a lot of practice to get good at it. Similarly, in every Minecraft game players can chat with one another in a public chat, a private chat, party chat or friend chat. I find chatting while playing server mini-games to be very fun. It is quite enjoyable.
All in all, Minecraft has many pros and cons, but in my opinion, the pros by far outweigh the cons because of the game’s social and educational benefits.
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